Federal Minister for Finance Senator Ishaq Dar chaired the 8th meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) on anti-money laundering and combating terrorism financing on Friday.
The director general financial monitoring unit of the ministry of finance gave a detailed presentation on status of National Risk Assessment (NRA) and National AML/CFT Strategy. He informed the participants that FATF (Regional Review Group) visited Pakistan in December 2014 to assess implementation status of the national action plan and expressed satisfaction over it. He also briefed the minister on the preparation for FATF plenary to be held in Paris from Feb 22-27, 2015 where implementation on the National Action Plan by Pakistan would come into focus. The meeting today also dilated upon other issues to be discussed in the plenary session.
The finance minister on this occasion sought update on measures outlined by the NEC’s special sub-committee to choke funding for the terrorists’ activities as well as proposals on amendments in AML Act, 2010.
The sub-committee on choking funding for terrorists and terrorist organisations, it may be added, had recommended strengthening of specific provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act relating to terrorist financing through capacity building, strict enforcement and frequent use of proscription. It has also observed that there was need for an effective law to regulate and monitor activities of NPOs/charities.
It also recommended effective check on the use of illegal/informal remitters (hawala/hundi) for criminal activities including terrorism financing. It observed there was need for increased coordination among investigating agencies of the federal and provincial governments and that consolidated database of terrorists (individual and organizations) must be maintained.
The finance minister said that money laundering and terrorism financing were important issues and that NEC needed to meet frequently to discuss the status of ongoing efforts to address these issues. The minister also gave instructions for finalising preparations for the FATF plenary.
